After going back to full-time study this year, and having my scholarship application denied, I've needed to look at a few ways to cut back on some expenses. Unfortunately, one of the ways I've had to cut expenses is through my streaming expenses.
The NBA League Pass was the first one to go. This was done mainly because of the size of it - about $240 per year. The reasoning was that, while I like the convenience of it, I don't use it enough to justify keeping it. Also, most of the good games are on ESPN, which I have through my Foxtel subscription anyway, so there was some redundancy that also made it unnecessary. I've also heard that League Pass will offer micro subscriptions next year, so for example, if a game is close, you can by a quarter for a small amount, like $4 or something.
I've also pared down my Foxtel Now subscription, by getting rid of the Documentaries pack, which saves about $10 a month. When I first purchased Foxtel Now, I wanted to mimic the service I had with the full Foxtel subscription, which included documentaries. However, the only reason I had the Doco pack was to watch Top Gear on the Discovery channel (which is now on Amazon). The only other time I would use the Doco pack was to watch the CI channel, for shows like Crimes That Shook Australia. Given those shows are now finished for the year, I feel I can cut the Doco pack, and then maybe pick it back up again when those shows return.
I will say that adding and removing packs was really easy to do online, although the changes I made did not seem to be immediately reflected in the app when I went back to it, even after refreshing the app. Cutting the Doco pack saves about $10 a month, or about $120 a year. If I need to make further cuts, I would say my Amazon Video subscription could go next, although that's only about $6 a month. I could also cut down my Foxtel Now subscription even further - I really only need a couple of channels other than Sports and the HD option, which are non-negotiable (like Showcase). Also, for some reason, I seem to be getting the Movies Pack in my Foxtel subscription. I went online to check that it wasn't included in my subscription by mistake, and it's not, so perhaps it's some promotion by Foxtel for this month??
ANZCA: The conference was held in Auckland this year, which was good, although I feel it wasn't as memorable this year compared to previously. Perhaps this was to do with the fact that there seemed to be less people attending this year. Perhaps this was because it was in New Zealand, or because there seemed to be a PR focus, or there weren't as many keynotes and the keynotes weren't that amazing. I also feel that, because I wasn't presenting at the conference, I wasn't really engaged as much. It's hard to stay focused in presentations when you're not on edge about your own. Being at the end of the semester, I was more or less treating the conference as a junket, and was virtually in holiday mode a lot of the time. However, I did make some good contacts, picked up a few good bits of information, had a really good chat with Brett Hutchins, and otherwise enjoyed the time there. I also am finding myself looking for opportunities to network, instead of staying with Newcastle people the whole time.
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